No Personal Space
by InkHeart4112
Summary: Join Zander and Stevie on some of the times that they didn't know the meaning of personal space, which involve: A murderous dog, way too much homework, a little sister's mistake, and a subway full of nosy people that believe they're in love with each other. Zevie Month One-Shot #2!


**A/N: **Hi, guys! I'm currently writing this at 3 AM on a late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, a.k.a. late on November 5/early on November 6. I don't know what inspired me to write this, to be honest. It must be the 100.9 fever taking over my brain. Hope you enjoy!

**I don't own How To Rock or any references mentioned. **

It's something that the two never bring up, like an unspoken agreement. He never asks to wrap his arm around her, and she never asks to rest her head on his lap. They just do it, no questions asked. Heck, she gets offended when his skin doesn't touch hers and he's a little hurt when she doesn't invade his personal space. To others it might seem like they're a couple showing PDA, but really it's just how their friendship is.

**-HTR-**

**i.)** _Protection_

Stevie Baskara looks like Little Miss Tough with her killer combat boots and fierce personality, right? She's not scared of snakes, spiders, rats, heights, small spaces...She's almost fearless. Almost. One thing sparks up the inner screaming little girl inside her. That one thing is horror movies. Badass Baskara is scared of horror movies. Shocking, huh? It all started when she watched _Cujo_ at the age of 10, despite the protests of her brothers. From then on, Stevie can't even look at a dog or watch a horror movie the same way again.

So, you can imagine her expression when Kevin, a horror movie fanatic and animal lover, picked none other than _Cujo_ for the band's weekly movie night. And since Stevie made everyone watch _The Breakfast Club_ for the third time last week on movie night, she couldn't object.

**-HTR-**

They gather around Nelson's basement that Saturday night. Nelson sits on one side of his orange couch and Kacey sits on the other, leaving the middle open for Kevin when he finishes putting the _Cujo_ DVD into the TV. In Mr. Baxter's recliner beside the couch on Nelson's side, Stevie is sprawled out with her feet up and a blanket wrapped around her. When Zander comes back with snacks, it doesn't go unnoticed by her that he sits down on the arm of the recliner.

Sitting up as Nelson loudly chews on his popcorn and Kacey munches on some Sour Patch Kids, Stevie snaps, "What do you think you're doing?"

Zander turns his head and looks down at her before replying, "Judging by the tone in your voice, I'm assuming that I'm doing something wrong."

She rolls her eyes and scoots further into the right of the recliner while saying, "You're supposed to sit down here and protect me. You know how much horror movies freak me out."

Zander chuckles but doesn't object. He slides off the arm of the recliner and into the space that Stevie left for him, which isn't much. Nevertheless, he continues to let her lean on him, her back touching his chest and his arms wrapped around her waist.

* * *

**ii.) **_Personal Pillow_

"School will be the death of me."

Turning his head to the doorway of the band room, Zander sees Stevie entering, looking more tired and stressed than usual. Knowing how days like this always go, he sighs and carefully rests his guitar on the ground.

Pacing behind the couch, Stevie rambles, "I have a partner Chemistry project with Kacey due on Friday that she hasn't even helped on, the History report I haven't started is due in 3 days, my unfinished English essay is due tomorrow, Spanish homework that I don't even understand is due in 2 hours, and we haven't even finished our new song!"

Zander chuckles at her frantic tone, which was not a very smart move. Stevie widens her eyes out of rage, stomps around the couch, and shoots him a death glare.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she sternly asks, "Is my pain and suffering_ amusing_ to you?"

The ukulele player sitting on one side of the green couch questions, "Know what you need, Steves?"

With spunk in her tone, she replies, "A better best friend?"

Zander rolls his eyes and states, "You need a nap."

As if he just asked her to kill someone, Stevie says, "A nap? Zander, did you not just hear a word I said?! I can't sleep when I have all that stuff to do!"

After thinking for a moment, he responds, "Tell you what, Steves. I'll take away Kacey's phone until you guys finish your project, Nelson's a whiz in History so he can help with your report, I'm almost fluent in Spanish **(which Max is)** so I'll help you with your homework after band practice, and then you can come over to my house after school today. My mom's an English teacher so she'll help you with your essay, and we can work on the song afterwards. Sound good?"

Still a bit unsure but a little convinced, Stevie shuffles her feet and mumbles, "I guess."

Feeling a bit victorious, Zander smiles and prepares to get up, but Stevie's next movements stop him. She pushes his feet off the table and onto the other end of the couch, making it look like he's laying down. She lays down on the edge of the couch so her back is pressed against his chest. Grabbing his right hand, Stevie uses it to wrap his arm around her waist.

Zander, with his left arm squished under Stevie's torso and her hair in front of his face, jokes, "Comfortable, Steves?"

Closing her eyes and drifting off, she mutters, "Yeah."

"Want me to leave?"

"Obviously not."

Not seeing a reason to turn down a few lazy minutes, Zander pushes his left arm out and wraps it around Stevie's waist, his two hands now linking together across her stomach. He sniffs her coconut scented hair before dozing off.

* * *

**iii.)** _Comfort_

Entering his house with his phone still held to his right ear, Zander says, "If Captain America and Iron Man were in a fight, the captain would win. No doubt about."

On the other end of the line, Stevie scoffs, "No way. Captain America is just an old guy in a young body who needed machines to buff him up."

Zander drops his backpack in the hallway and walks into the kitchen, replying, "And Iron Man is just a rich guy in a shiny suit. Take that away, and what is he?"

"Sherlock Holmes, idiot."

He laughs and takes a bottle of Coca Cola out of the fridge. Zander looks around and notice that his house seems way more quieter than usual.

"Hey, Steves. I'll call you back later."

"'Kay, bye."

"Bye, baby."

He hangs up the phone and places it on the counter next to his drink.

Walking out of the kitchen, he calls, "Lady!"

No response, so he tries again. "Lady! Mom! Mel!"

After several more tries with no one responding, Zander sighs and walks into the living room. He notices a note taped to the coffee table and picks it up.

_Went to the pet store to pick up some food for Lady. Melody's taking a nap in her room. I'll be back by 5. -Mom_

He groans and mutters, "Great. I'm stuck with the little twerp."

Spinning on his heels, Zander walks to the backyard door and shouts, "Lady, I'm home!"

He opens the door and looks out into the backyard, seeing nothing but grass and his sister's mini playground. After shutting the door with a confused expression, he heads towards his sister's room down the hall.

Once again, vacant.

As a bunch of paranoid scenarios play into Zander's head, the sound of the front door opening interrupts his thoughts. He immediately runs towards the entryway, only to see Melody coming in with a terrified expression plastered on her face.

He storms towards her saying, "You're supposed to be sleeping in your room. What the heck were you thinking, leaving the house by yourself?"

Ignoring his lecture, Melody apologizes, "Zander, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

With a furrow of his eyebrows, Zander asks, "What are you talking about?"

She shakes her head and quietly mumbles, "Lady wouldn't stop barking so I took her for a walk and she ran off and the car came out of nowhere..."

-**HTR-**

That night, Zander couldn't sleep. He tried in every way possible. Playing quiet music, strumming his ukulele, and even counting sheep. He looked at his clock after the 84th sheep hopped over the imaginary fence.

_4:07 AM_

Not knowing what else to do, he hops out of his bed, opens his bedroom window, sneaks out of it, and climbs onto the branch of the tree directly outside of his room. After shutting the window, he climbs down the tree and quietly jogs away from his house in nothing but a grey tank top, plaid red pajama pants, and white socks.

20 minutes of walking before Zander finally finds his location: Stevie's house. Seeing that her driveway is empty except for her car, he assumes that her parents are still visiting family in Chicago, her younger twin brothers are still on the overnight field trip with their school, and her two older brothers aren't back from collage for holiday break. He jogs up to her front door and rings the doorbell. Surprisingly, he can hear footsteps getting louder inside the house only seconds later. She answers the door with her hair tied up messily, wearing _his_ red flannel shirt, a white tank top, black skinny jeans, and red sandals.

She looks a bit shocked to see him but shakes it off and says, "I was just about to head to your house. Your mom called me 10 minutes ago when she noticed you were gone, figuring you'd come here. She told me what happened."

Zander just nods, not knowing what else to do. Honestly, he didn't know why he came to Stevie's house. His feet just took over his brain and lead him here.

Stevie takes a step out of the house, puts her left hand on his right arm, and asks, "Are you okay?"

And in that moment, Zander speaks for the first time since the accident several hours ago.

"No. I'm not."

That's all it takes for Stevie to wrap her arms around his waist, leaning her head against his chest. After a moment of standing there motionless, he slowly slides his cold arms around her torso, resting his chin on the top of her head which eventually leads to him kissing her hair.

* * *

**iv.)**_ Subway Talk_

Stevie always wanted to go to New York. It's been her dream to be in the city of bright lights and fancy cars, to see skyscrapers and hot dog stands everywhere. That's exactly why Zander took her on his family's vacation back to their home state. He's shown her the Statue of Liberty, Queens, and where they shoot _Law & Order: SVU_. They're currently on a subway (which is surprisingly almost vacant) heading to Manhattan, where he was born and raised. Stevie's leaning back on a wall of the subway as Zander sits beside her, her legs sprawled on his lap.

While he plays with her left hand, Stevie says, "I don't know why you're parents moved from New York to California. If I lived here, I would never leave."

Zander laughs, continues to trace a _Z_ on her palm with his finger, and responds, "Glad you're liking the city life, Cali girl."

They sit in a comfortable silence, strangers around them quietly chatting.

Zander intertwines their fingers and quietly says, "Know what I just realized? Our fingers kind of fit perfectly together, just like us."

Stevie laughs at his lame attempt to flirt with her and replies, "Kind of? Darling, we're made for each other."

Shifting a bit, she shuts her eyes and mumbles, "After all that walking, I need some sleep."

Zander chuckles and smiles softly at his best friend as she dozes off.

"You two are totes adorbs."

He turns his head to the other side of the subway and sees a 14 year-old girl sitting there, filing her nails and chewing her gum loudly.

He furrows his eyebrows and asks, "Um, excuse me?"

She looks away from her nails and gestures to Stevie. "You and your girlfriend."

Zander chuckles and states, "She's not my girlfriend."

A grown man sitting a few seats down from him sarcastically scoffs, "Yeah, right."

Zander snaps his head towards the man and protests, "Really, we're not dating. Just friends."

The 14 year-old raises her eyebrows and questions, "You hold hands with all your friends?"

He rolls his eyes, drops Stevie's hand on his lap, and says, "She's my best friend, not my girlfriend."

A middle-aged woman sitting a few seats down from the girl asks, "Well why not?"

Zander shrugs and answers, "I don't know. Stevie and I just don't like each other in that way."

An old woman sitting beside the girl replies, "Are you sure about that? Because I saw the way that you two were looking at each other. You were playing with her hands, and she even agreed that you two are perfect for each other."

Zander sighs and responds, "That's just how our friendship works. I jokingly flirt with her, she doesn't hold back to reject me. I wrap my arm around her, she uses me as a pillow. I'm a pain in her neck, she's a pain in mine. Simple as that. Nothing's going on between us."

The middle-aged woman comments, "But you want there to be."

The grown man nods and joins in, "I bet you two have kissed."

Zander, not knowing what else to do at this point, argues, "One, I do not wish about having a romantic relationship with Stevie. I'm perfectly fine with our friendship. Second, we've kissed three times but it was all platonic."

The 14 year-old raises her eyebrows and questions, "You two have kissed three times?"

The woman shakes her head and mutters, "Love is blind."

I groan and shout, "We're just best friends!"

The old woman gives him a genuine smile and states, "Well I think you two would make a darling couple."

Zander gives her a small grin and, instead of protesting, replies, "Thank you."

And he swears that, in her sleep, Stevie smiled.

**Okay, this was kind of cute to write. Sorry if it was kind of OC and terrible. Keep in mind that I'm writing this late at night while I'm extremely sick. Hope you guys liked it! Did you have a favorite one? Be sure to review your thoughts!(:**


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